Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) Shares Sold by Kentucky Retirement Systems

Kentucky Retirement Systems trimmed its holdings in Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE:MRO) by 8.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 38,970 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 3,534 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Marathon Oil were worth $1,038,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in Marathon Oil by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 82,113 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,187,000 after acquiring an additional 5,711 shares during the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Marathon Oil by 184.7% in the 3rd quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 23,626 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $629,000 after acquiring an additional 15,326 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in Marathon Oil by 227.8% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 163,231 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $4,346,000 after acquiring an additional 113,429 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Marathon Oil by 62.5% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 30,547 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $813,000 after acquiring an additional 11,746 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Carrera Capital Advisors acquired a new stake in Marathon Oil in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,813,000. 77.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Marathon Oil Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE:MRO opened at $28.75 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $27.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $27.59. Marathon Oil Co. has a 52 week low of $21.81 and a 52 week high of $30.06. The company has a market capitalization of $16.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.34 and a beta of 2.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.69.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.01. Marathon Oil had a return on equity of 12.80% and a net margin of 19.73%. The firm had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.77 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Marathon Oil Co. will post 2.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marathon Oil Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.53%. Marathon Oil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.88%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on MRO shares. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $27.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 30th. Barclays cut their price objective on Marathon Oil from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. UBS Group cut their price objective on Marathon Oil from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. StockNews.com started coverage on Marathon Oil in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Marathon Oil from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $30.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Lee M. Tillman sold 256,591 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.07, for a total value of $7,459,100.37. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 596,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,335,313.10. This trade represents a 30.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael A. Henderson sold 38,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.21, for a total value of $1,033,980.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 76,828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,090,489.88. This represents a 33.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 346,599 shares of company stock worth $9,923,300. Insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Oil Company Profile

Marathon Oil Corporation, an independent exploration and production company, engages in exploration, production, and marketing of crude oil and condensate, natural gas liquids, and natural gas in the United States and internationally. The company also produces and markets products manufactured from natural gas, such as liquefied natural gas and methanol.